Alleged violations may wipe out Memphis’ year

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson defended the men’s basketball program Thursday, saying the school checks out all potential players.

He would not confirm that Derrick Rose, who led Memphis to the 2008 national title game, is at the center of an NCAA investigation of major violations during that season.

In a letter to the school the NCAA says an unknown person took the SAT for a player, with his knowledge, and then the player used that test to get into Memphis. The NCAA said the athlete in question played for the Tigers in the 2007-08 season and the 2008 NCAA tournament. The only person who played just that season was Rose.

“We wouldn’t play anybody if we hadn’t checked it out pretty thoroughly,” Johnson told The Associated Press.

Johnson would not identify the player involved for privacy reasons. But he said the player is cooperating with Memphis’ investigation into the allegations.

“Nobody has thrown up any road blocks,” Johnson said. “We’re trying to get it resolved and do it the right way.”

The NCAA has asked Memphis to provide copies of the SAT and a Sept. 2, 2008, report by a forensic document examiner who studied the handwriting in the SAT.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday that someone with access to Rose’s academic records at Simeon High School changed a D to a C on his transcript. The newspaper reported that Rose was one of four athletes at the school whose grades were boosted for a one-month period after their June 2007 graduation and then changed back after the bogus transcripts were sent to colleges.

Memphis was notified Jan. 16 of the potentially major violations in the men’s basketball program and will appear June 6 in Indianapolis before the NCAA committee on infractions for a hearing.

“We’ve been working on this for some time and continue to get our final presentation finalized and make sure we dotted all the Is and crossed all the Ts,” Johnson said.